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New Kia Optima K5 Launched In Malaysia

Ever since I've gotten my own sweet ride from Kia, the Kia Forte a couple of years back, I've been a stout believer that the Korean automotive car manufacturer has improved by leaps and bounds as compared to 5 years ago. Then Kia launched the first in class, Kia Optima K5 back a few years ago, and it was a beauty, garnering a fan base that just kept on increasing every month.

The New Kia Optima K5 2014 Launching Soon

That was when my lust for the Kia Optima K5 began, and it has been fueled even more by the recent announcement that the latest Kia Optima K5 2014 Facelift version will be launched soon, next week to be exact. This post will serve to hype up, and share what I found, on what has changed. As can be seen from the photo above, it will not be a complete overhaul of the current Optima K5 model, but more of a sleeker facelift model, with better exterior styling and improvements, with some added features that will definitely wow you over.

The back view of the new Kia Optima

The new price of the facelifted Kia Optima K5 has yet to be announced, but with the added features and styling improvements, my guess is that Kia will position themselves on the level of the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord. Kia has always been seen as one which is feature packed versus the bare minimum of other Japanese makes, making it more value for money. It has yet to be seen how the latest pricing would impact the consumer market, but be sure that the features would be worth the money spent.

Looking sleek and futuristic with everything within reach

From the information that I got off the net and various sources, the new Kia Optima K5 facelift will see different modifications being done to the exterior styling. The bumper has been redesigned for a more aggressive front, where LED fog lamps would replace the current version fog lamps. The current Optima K5 front is already very aerodynamically shaped, and Kia has just enhanced it further while maintaining the sleek look.

Extensive usage of LEDs in the new Kia Optima K5 model

Major modifications however were done to the rear view design, especially on the tail lamp, adding more characteristic to an already cool looking rear. It does look a bit like the Kia Cerato tail lamp now, but more masculine. A closer look at the new LED styling can be seen below.

New rear tail lamp for the New Kia Optima K5

It's all about the lighting in recent times, as I've seen friends from both the Kia Forte clubs and MyK5Club modify and enhanced their lighting systems. LED lights are all the rage nowadays, and Kia has picked up this cue to add in a dual projector headlamp with LED DRL, and changed the design of the rear LED lights.

It is indeed different from the current K5 model, especially with the addition of the LED Fog lamp. The front headlamps and rear tail lamps followed Kia's current models line-up, very similar to the ones in the new Kia Rio and Kia Cerato.

LED Fog Lamps

What remains to be seen though, would be the Optima K5 would be buyers' reaction to the change in the sport rim design. The 'skimmed' rim look of the older Optima K5 has been replaced with a structure enhanced sport rim with a different design. The size remained at 18" though. I personally preferred the older rims, but hey, if it is enhanced for the better, why not.

The new Kia Optima K5 with it's new enhanced sport rim design

Being a family man now, on top of looking at the power and performance of a car, I'm now looking more into the tech and safety aspect of the ride. Kudos to Kia, as they have incorporated a host of really good safety measures and features, some of which deserves some mention here. Hydrophobic glass which is said to actually retain clear vision even in heavy downpours have been added in, together with 6 airbags, rear view camera, power windows with safety auto pinching, and auto wiper with rain sensor.

Sunroof for that added luxury and style

Well, even if you're not a family man, and style and trend are all that matters, the New Kia Optima K5 has some really cool features to keep you satisfied while driving the car. Air cond seats, sunroof, electronic parking brakes, infinity sound system and the new improved D shaped steering wheels are a few of the key features.

Shown below would be the Unique Selling Proposition or USP of the new Optima K5 model. Now I've only been recently educated on what USP is, a quick check online defines a USP as a specific characteristic that makes one product, company or person stand out from the competition. Pretty interesting to me, anyway check them out below.

8-way power driver seat with memory seat and 4-way power passenger seat

4 auto powered and up/down windows with safety auto pinching

Auto wiper with rain sensor

Hydrophobic glass

Watch out for this space, as I will be updating more on the new Kia Optima K5 after the official launch happening really soon. In the meantime do check out their official Kia Malaysia website at www.nazakia.com.my, or if you're like me, go join the MyK5Club Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/groups/myk5club to see what other cool K5 owners have been up to, as well as their various technical sharings, and events.